Package for columnar articles



Se t. 6, 1966 H. E. HECKER PACKAGE FOR COLUMNAR ARTICLES Filed June 18,1965 INVENTOR. Hmwvs E. He'cKE i AT QIMEKS United States Patent FiledJune 18, 1965, Ser. No. 464,972

4 Claims. (Cl. 2ll672) This invention relates to an article package andmore particularly to a package of modular compartmented design forsupporting a plurality :of generally similar 00- lumn'ar anticlesindividually in regularly spaced rectilinear arrangement.

The package of the invention is particularly suited for the transportand handling of many columnar articles, such as electronic componentsincluding capacitors, rectifiers, and tubes; medical supplies such asampules, vials, and syringes; as well as miscellaneous articles such aspencils, crayons, lipstick cases, drills, taps and similar columnar ortubular items. Included in this are articles which may be stacked toform columnar piles.

The present invention comprises an improvement in a type of packageheretofore developed and used extensively in the handling and transportof columnar articles, as disclosed for example in US. Patents Nos.2,767,532, 2,747,787. Packaging devices of this type are designed withtwo principal objectives in mind; namely, assured safe delivery offragile articles or the delivery of articles in regularly orientedposition to facilitate subsequent handling or processing;.and packagingeconomy, both in respect to materials as well as packaging operations.These general objectives are achieved in the type of package here underconsideration through the design of a specially shaped fluted orundulated flexible sheet strip member secured at spaced intervals to aflat backing strip. In general paperboard or possibly sheet plastic ispreferred for reasons of economy, although metal or other sheet materialof suitable flexibility might be used in special applications. Thefluted or undulated contour of the first or article-receiving stripprovides a plurality of compartments constituting repetitive troughs andpeaks running transversely of the length of the backing strip. Withineach compartment, the flute contour provides a spring-clip holdingaction which secures the columnar article to be packaged throughfrictional engagement of the article by the sidewalls of the trough orflute. This gripping action is enhanced by the upper portions ofopposite sidewalls in a trough, adjacent the apices of the peaksflanking each trough, which overhang and form a restricted opening orentry to the trough.

Such packages have given excellent service in the transport or otherhandling of many articles, as mentioned above, and afford excellentprotection against lateral movement of the articles and the damage tothem that can thus result. Prior packages of this type, however, requiresupplemental partitioning or insert members to provide positiverestraint against endwise or axial movement of the individual articleswithin their respective compartments. Not only do such inserts add tothe cost of the packaging material, but they generally involve an extraoperation in the process of inserting the articles into the package,thereby increasing packing costs still further.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to modifyand supplement the basic package structure above described toincorporate integral means for positively restraining endwise or axialmovement of the articles within their respective compartments, withoutthe necessity of additional separators of partitioning inserts, and theassembly operations which these entail.

In accordance with the present invention, a package structure of thefluted or undulated design above described is employed, but this ismodified in respect to the designs heretofore proposed by the provisionof transverse slits formed in the sidewalls of the troughs, below theapices Patented Sept. 6, 1966 of the peaks of the flutes, such slitsbeing formed in opposite walls of the trough and spaced therealong adistance corresponding to the axial extent of the body of the article tobe retained in the trough. In addition, the fluting of thearticle-receiving strip is modified to increase slightly the distancebetween the adjacent sidewalls of adjacent troughs, and the trough widthis decreased slightly from that heretofore standarized with respect toarticles of given diameter, so that the maximum width of the trough inthe present design is appreciably less than the diameter of the articlesto be retained. When, therefore, an article is placed in a troughbetween spaced slits in the sidewalls thereof, that portion of the wallof the trough in which the article is nested is expanded laterally andprojects on opposite sides of the article into the spaces betweenadjacent flutes below the peaks thereof. The remaining portions of thewall of each trough, i.e. the portions extending beyond opposite ends ofthe retained article, are left unexpanded and accordingly the edges ofthese Wall portions intersect the ends of the body of the columnararticle cord-wise of such articles, thereby providing shoulders or stopsat each end of the respective article preventing its axial movementwithin its trough.

The arrangement hereinabove briefly described and comprising the presentinvention is extremely simple and effective, yet may be readilyincorporated into fluted packages of previous design with littlemodification of existing package-forming equipment, involving only theaddition of simple slitting means, such as rotary knives. Theimprovement thus afforded by the invention is entirely compatible withthe existing equipment used for inserting the articles into the packageand, of course, eliminates the necessity for a separate operationinvolved in placing a barrier strip or the like in position to effectthe desired restraint against endwise movement of the articles.

The invention is explained in greater detail hereinafter by way ofexample with reference to a specific embodiment illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anarticle package embodying the invention as applied to the packaging ofelectrical capacitors or condensers;

FIG. 2 is a view in cross-section, taken on line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a package similar to that in FIG. 1but of slightly modified form.

Article package 10 comprises a generally fiat backing strip 12 offlexible sheet material, and an undulated strip 14, also of flexiblesheet material, folded or fluted to produce a repetitive series ofrounded peaks 16 and troughs 18 running transversely of the extent ofbacking strip 12. Strip 14 is preferably secured to the backing memberby adhesive applied externally along the bottom of each trough, or byother equivalent means.

Tubular or columnar articles, such as condensers C, are adapted to benested in the respective troughs 18 and retained therein against lateralas well as axial shifting movement. To this end, troughs 18 are formedwith a restricted opening and a communicating main cavity or compartmentwhich is slightly narrower in its widest dimension than the diameter ofcondensers C. The sidewalls of these troughs are transversely slitted,as at 20, 20 below peaks 1 6, at spaced intervals along each trough, thedistance between slits 20 corresponding to the axial length of the bodyof a condenser C. Slits 20 at each location are discontinuous across thetrough, being confined in their transverse or peripheral extent to theside walls only.

Although the troughs are normally slightly narrower than the diameter ofthe condensers, the flexibility of the walls, supplemented by slits 20,permit the intermediate portions 22 of the sidewalls to expand laterallybelow peaks 16 to receive the condensers. This expansion is 3accommodated by the spacing between the adjacent Walls of adjacenttroughs, as best seen in FIG. 2. The intermediate portions 22, i.e. thatportion between slits 20, comprise band or sling portions for receivingand tangentially gripping the articles wit-bin the troughs, andsuspending them above the bottoms of the troughs. These slings thus formflexible portions which are semi-independent of the rest of the wall yetare continuous, i.e. uninterrupted peripherally of the troughs, wherebythese sling portions readily conform to and are in tangential anduninterrupted peripheral contact with a significant portion of thesurface of each article on opposite sides of each trough. The overhangof the sidewalls just below peaks 16 supplements the normal grippingengagement to restrain any outward escape of the articles from troughs18.

It will be noted that the adges of strip 14 presented by the outerportions 24 of the sidewalls, i.e. the Wall portions outside of slingportions 22, thus serve as shoulders or stops on either side at each endof each condenser to restrain it against axial movement along thetrough. This arrangement does not interfere in any way with projectionsextending from the body of the packaged articles, as for example thepigtails on the condensers here illustrated, and does not impede theinsertion or removal of the articles from the package. Yet suchprojections, which are often fragile or are connected to the main bodyof the article in a fragile manner, are thus fully protected againstdamage that would result from endwise shifting of the articles withintheir respective troughs.

The modified package shown in FIG. 3 is essentially similar to that inFIG. 1 except that each trough 18 is provided with more than the one setof paired slits as employed in the previously described embodiment. Thusadded sets of slits 20, 20' and 20", 20", in each trough adapt thepackage for articles of predetermined different lengths so that onestandard package may serve for articles of different lengths. Thepresence of slits 20, or 20' does not interfere with the retainingfunction of the troughs when articles of a length corresponding to thedistance between slits 20 for example are packaged. The plural sets ofslits also makes it possible to pack two articles in the same trough,without danger of endwise contact between them. Thus one article can bepositioned between each. of the paired sets of slits 20'20", forexample, in the arrangement shown in FIG. 3.

Thus, the package construction here disclosed eliminates the need forany separate partitioning or insert members to prevent endwise shiftingof the articles Within the troughs.

Article package 10 may, if desired, be enclosed in a conventionalfolding or other type of cardboard box or sleeve of appropriate size andconventional construction. Likewise, of course, the package may be madein any length to accommodate any quality of articles, as required.Loading of articles into package 10 may be accomplished by the sameautomatic method and equipment as disclosed in the aforesaid Patent2,767,532, or the package may, of course, be filled manually.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, together withthose made apparent from the preceding description, are efficientlyattained and, since certain changes may be made in the preciseconstructions described above without departure from the scope of theinvention, it is intended that the foregoing description should beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Thus it isintended that the generic and specific features herein described, aswell. as the obvious equivalents of the particular structures shown, arecomprehended by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An article package of modular compartmented design for supporting aplurality of generally similarlyshaped columnar article individually inseparated compartments against lateral and axial shifting therein, whichcomprises (a) a generally fiat backing strip of flexible sheet material;

(b) an undulated strip secured at spaced intervals to said backing stripto provide a plurality of articlereceiving compartments formed by arepetitive series of peaks and troughs running transversely of theextent of said backing strip,

(1) said trough being wider than said peaks but narrower than thediameter of the columnar articles to be received therein, and

(2) the sidewalls of said troughs being slitted transversely at spacedintervals along their ex-- tent to form sling portions which areperipherally continuous with the trough walls, said sling portionscorresponding lengthwise of said troughs to the axial length of thebodies of the columnar articles to be retained therein.

2. An article package as defined in claim 1, wherein the Walls of saidtroughs adjacent said peaks overhang and restrict the openings of saidtroughs, and said transverse slits in said trough walls are confined toportions thereof below the apices of said peaks.

3. An article package as defined in claim 2, wherein the slits in saidtrough Walls are discontinuous peripherally of the troughs.

4. An article package as defined in claim 1, wherein said troughs areslit at multiple points along said troughs to provide sets accommodatingarticles of difierent predetermined lengths.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 635,143 10/1899Moifitt -2 229-87 838,03 1 12/ 1906 Kirkpatrick 220-21 1,980,141 11/1934MaCGregor 206-43 2,767,532 10/1956 Bossi 206 X 2,881,911 4/ 1959 Krill20665 2,903,139 9/1959 Penman.

FOREIGN PATENTS 276,011 9/ 1951 Switzerland.

281,928 7/ 1952 Switzerland.

320,167 4/ 1957 "Switzerland.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

1. AN ARTICLE PACKAGE OF MODULAR COMPARTMENTED DESIGN FOR SUPPORTING APLURALITY OF GENERALLY SIMILARLYSHAPED COLUMNAR ARTICLE INDIVIDUALLY INSEPARATED COMPARTMENTS AGAINST LATERAL AND AXIAL SHIFTING THEREIN, WHICHCOMPRISES (A) A GENERALLY FLAT BACKING STRIP OF FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL;(B) AN UNDULATED STRIP SECURED AT SPACED INTERVALS TO SAID BACKING STRIPTO PROVIDE A PLURALITY OF ARTICLERECEIVING COMPARTMENTS FORMED BY AREPETITIVE SERIES TO PEAKS AND TROUGHS RUNNING TRANSVERSELY OF THEEXTENT OF SAID BACKING STRIP, (1) SAID TROUGH BEING WIDER THAN SAIDPEAKS BUT NARROWER THAN THE DIAMETER OF THE COLUMNAR ARTICLES TO BERECEIVED THEREIN, AND (2) THE SIDEWALLS OF SAID TROUGHS BEING SLITTEDTRANSVERSELY AT SPACED INTERVALS ALONG THEIR EXTENT TO FORM SLINGPORTIONS WHICH ARE PERIPHERALLY CONTINUOUS WITH THE TROUGH WALLS, SAIDSLING PORTIONS CORRESPONDING LENGTHWISE OF SAID TROUGHS TO THE AXIALLENGTH OF THE BODIES OF THE COLUMNAR ARTICLES TO BE RETAINED THEREIN.